Japan and China pull back from the brink over disputed islands

McClatchy News Service

Published 2:54 pm, Friday, November 7, 2014

Photo: Dita Alangkara / Associated Press

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FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2013 file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, wave with other leaders of the Asia-Pacific region, from second left, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, as they stand for a group photo session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bali, Indonesia. China said Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, it reached agreement with Japan to ramp up high-level contacts, the strongest indication yet of a possible meeting between Xi and Abe at next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File) less

FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2013 file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, wave with other leaders of the Asia-Pacific region, from second left, Australian Prime ... more

Photo: Dita Alangkara / Associated Press

Japan and China pull back from the brink over disputed islands

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BEIJING — Easing fears of a looming military conflict, China and Japan jointly announced Friday that they’re seeking to improve relations and set up a system to prevent minor maritime “contingencies” from escalating into true warfare.

“The two sides have agreed to gradually resume political, diplomatic and security dialogue through various multilateral and bilateral channels and to make efforts to build political mutual trust,” according to joint statements reported by news media in China and Japan.

For the last two years, the two countries have sparred over islands in the East China Sea, elevating concerns that a chance encounter at sea might turn explosive. Friday’s announcement suggests at least a partial thawing of the relationship, three days before China’s President Xi Jinping hosts top leaders, including President Obama, at a regional summit in Beijing.

It also suggests that, at next week’s summit, Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might hold their first face-to-face conversation since they assumed power in 2012.

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“At this point it looks like there will be a meeting between the two. It may not last long, maybe 15 minutes, but is a big step for this relationship, given where it has been,” said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research organization in Washington.

According to China’s version of the announcement, the two countries have “acknowledged that different positions exist between them” about the disputed islands, which Japan calls the Senkuku and China calls the Diaoyu.

This statement is significant, because China has been insisting that Japan acknowledge a dispute exists as a condition for further bilateral talks. Japan has been reluctant to make that acknowledgment, fearing it might open the door to China making a legal claim over territory Japan has long controlled.

In addition, China’s Foreign Ministry posted on its website Friday that the two countries will work on a “mechanism” to prevent maritime incidents from escalating. Talks on creating such a crisis-management system have foundered the last two years, partly because of territorial conflicts and also because of Abe’s decision to visit a controversial war shrine in Tokyo.

China has been insisting that Abe, along with acknowledging that a dispute exists over the islands, pledge to discontinue visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead, including 14 former high-ranking officials who were convicted after World War II of crimes against peace for plotting the war. Friday’s statement made no mention of the shrine, leading to speculation that Abe has tacitly agreed not to visit it in the near future but in a way that wouldn’t cause him political repercussions at home.

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